By: Barry Stone
Dear Barry,
After purchasing our home, we hired a chimney sweep in preparation for using our fireplace. He looked up the chimney and found that the metal liner was buckled due to overheating. He said this was a safety hazard and advised us not to use the fireplace at all. Repairs will involve cutting into the walls, and the estimated costs could be as much as $3,000. We depended upon our home inspector to discover such problems. Aren't home inspectors required to inspect the inside of a chimney? -Diane
Dear Diane,
Home inspectors routinely inspect visible and accessible portions of chimneys. For example, if a chimney interior can be directly viewed from within the fireplace or if the chimney top is open and readily accessible from the roof, those interior surfaces would be subject to evaluation by a home inspector. In some cases, however, disassembly of fireplace components is necessary to reveal defects, which is why some problems not revealed by home inspectors are later discovered by chimney sweeps. That would be a critical consideration in your situation. If your warped chimney liner could be viewed without dismantling any portion of the fireplace or chimney assembly, then the home inspector should have discovered the faulty condition you describe. In either case, you should notify your inspector of the problem and request a re-inspection of the chimney.
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